What To Do If Your Boyfriend Is Also Your Brother
by Araea Swiftwind
Summary: I screwed up. I made a mistake. But, I can atone for that. Here, let me give you something to help you with your situation. It's my diary, and this section is called, WTDIYBIAYB. Maybe you'll get the happy ending I did...


Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or anything related to it other that a stray fanfic or two. If you decide that I am infringing on copywrights, and try to sue me, I promise you you won't get much, mostly because I don't have anything. The most expesive thing I have is probably my new D&D dice. 

Warning: This story may be construed as sad and cute. There is some implied and practiced incest, and alcohol abuse. If any of these things set of uneasy bells inside your head, don't read this and instead go to the doctor to check on those bells. They aren't normal.

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What To Do If Your Boyfriend Is Also Your Brother By: Yuki

Al was writing in his journal as he sat alone at a dark bar. There were other people around, but most were involved in raunchy activities that did not appeal to Al at all. Al was reminiscing about his happier past. He really screwed things up, but he was dealing with the consequences. The reason Al was writing in his journal was that he didn't want his future son or daughter to make the same mistake he did.

The first thing that Al wrote down was: "What To Do If Your Boyfriend Is Also Your Brother." Al thought that that would be a great title for this advice. The next thing he wrote down was:

"Step One: Show him that, even though you are related, you still love him."

Al remembered a time that he did this for Ed costantly. He remembered making sure that Ed knew how much he loved him. He remembered so much, that he felt he needed to write the best exaples of each step down as a guideline for his future children.

"Ed ran his hands up and down my arm. I was nestled next to him on the couch and we were watching an old black and white movie. That was something that I loved to do. Ed didn't care what we did, so long as we did it together. There was a bowl of slightly buttery popcorn sitting on the table in front of us. We had taken a few handfuls, but once the movie started getting good, it was all but forgotten. I, during a slow point in the movie, leaned up and brushed my lips against my brorther's. Ed made a soft whimpering sound and leaned more fully into our sweet, simple kiss. I smirked and pulled away slowly, watching Ed's mouth try to follow. I shook my head softly and turned my attention back to the movie as the action started to rise again. Ed gave a small huff, but followed suit. I gently grabbed his hand and held it in mine until the movie was over. Ed smiled at me, happy to get an affirmation of my love for him. He always told me how much he loved it when I did simple things that reminded him that I really did love him. It made him feel special, he always told me."

Then, Al wrote the next step he felt was the most important when trying to keep you lover happy and make sure your lives together were the best they could be:

"Step Two: Make sure that he knows how much he means to you, not only as your brother, but also as your lover."

"It was Ed's ninetenth birthday and I had planned a special surprise for him. I had gotten together all of our friends and coworkers and planned the best party ever. There was going to be an awesome cake there, three tiers, all with decadent whipped cream topping. Winry came with lots of gifts for Ed, and allowed me to go to the store and pick up some last minute stuff that I had forgotten the day before when I went to the market in town. Ed was over at Meas and Gracia's house helping watch their youngest child, Elysia. He loved her very much, and I knew that helping them take care of her would make Ed very happy. After Ed was finished, and the Hughes' got the call from me, they would bring him home and my dear, sweet Ed would get his surprise. That was how I showed him how much I loved him as my brother.

"When Ed got to the party a few hours later, everyone shouted "SURPRISE!" and I could tell that Ed was very happy. Ed was always happy when I did something nice for him. In front of all our friends, I gave Ed a new pocketwatch and a bright red coat to replace the one that I "borrowed". Ed's eyes lit up and he could tell that I really put a lot of thought into his gifts. After the party, in our private bedroom, I gave Ed his REAL birthday present. Slowly, I walked towards my brother, making him slowly back towards our lage, fluffy bed. When his knees hit the edge of the plush king size bed, Ed gave a soft gasp of surprise. I smirked and just kept on advancing towards my big brother. A few moments later found both of us boys on the bed, with me sucking on my brother's neck and Ed moaning for all he was worth. It felt GOOD, and I got the idea that maybe Ed was starting to realize how much I really loved him.

"I peeled Ed's shirt and pants off painstakingly, taking great pleasure in making Ed squirm and sigh in impatience. Ed quickly grew impatient, so he pushed me away for a moment and tore the rest of his clothes off. He then proceeded to place small, quick kisses on my neck as he pulled my clothes off as well. I eeped and reversed our roles again so that I was the one in control. Ed really liked it when I was in control, but he liked it even more when I won that right. I then reverently ran my hands over my brother's bare chest and briefly tickled his ribs. Ed moaned throatily and arched into my tender touches. He loved it when I took control and pinned him down and had my way with him. Ed could tell by the twinkle in my eye that that was coming up next. I just had to show my beloved brother that I loved him not only as a brother, but also as a lover."

Al then thought of the fights that Ed and he had seen when they were younger. The younger brother was always mad at the older one because he wouldn't back him up if the older brother's friends were around. Al remembered how he and Ed made a pact to never have that problem, so Al made that one of the steps to take in order to ensure you kept your brother as your boyfriend. He wrote:

"Step Three: Remind him that blood is thicker than water, and that you will always be on his side."

"Ed and I were sitting together in a restaurant eating silently when this big, burly guy came up to us intent on making trouble. Our looks are so similar that it is obcious that we are brothers, but we were sitting in that restaurant as if we were lovers, which of course we were. So, that big, burly guy wanted to give us trouble about it. He went up to Ed first, who definately looked older than me, even though he was slightly shorter. The man got in Ed's face, and I had two options: 1) Tell the man that we weren't lovers, but just two close brothers having a meal together, or 2) Tell the man the truth. I remembered what Ed told me back when I was little and the other boys were fighting. He told me that no matter what stuff happened to us, or what I did, that he would always have my back. Now, I had the choice to have his back, or save my own skin, and I knew what I needed to do.

"I went up to that big, burly man that frightened me so much and I pulled Ed away from him and I looked him strait in the eye. I told him to go f himself and leave honest people alone. He started to swing at me, and Ed stopped him with his alchemic arm-sword. The man called us a few names, but then left. Some of the other people at the restaurant looked at us badly after that, but there were a few of them that clapped for us. Nobody kicked us out of the restaurant though, and that made both Ed and me very happy. Ed was agnry at me for not saving my own skin, so I told him why I did it. I told him about what I remembered and that our blood was always the thickest. I wouldn't ever leave him for someone or something that didn't really matter. Ed smiled at me and gave me a chaste kiss on the cheek, showing how much he loved me right then. I wish that feeling lasted."

Al read what he had written and his eyes started to grow moist. He remembered what had happened to Ed and his relationship after that. At first it was great. They did so much together, and they were happy. But nothing good ever lasts. A few months after the incident in the restaurant, Al and Ed were no longer together. Ed disappeared, and Al practically lived in bars and other such dives. He never did anything fun, or went out with his friends, because Al didn't have any friends anymore. Al was alone, and it was his fault, because he made a huge mistake. That was why he wrote the last step, step four:

"Step Four: Never ever leave him from some random guy you met at a bar."

Al was crying now, unable to forget what he had done, and unable to repeat it so that his prodigy didn't make the same mistake. He figured, though his crying, that they would probably be smarter than him anyway. The bartender silently walked up to Al and asked him why he was crying.

"I did...the st-stupidest th-thing...e-e-ever. I had...a gr-great th-thing going for me...and I let...I let it go. I guess...I guess I didn't think that...that..." Al was sobbing hard, and the bartender laid a hand on his thin shoulders.

"It's okay, you can take a moment to let it out. I have all the time in the world, and so do you."

Al took a deep breath to steady himself and continued his story, "I guess I didn't think that...leaving him would mean this. I thought that...I thought that I could survive without him...but I can't. He was my life...and I...I...blew it." Al placed his face in his hands and cried silently. The bartender gave him such a sad look, but Al was too absorbed to notice it. A short blond man walked into the bar shortly after and looked around.

He noticed Al and the bartender, and walked towards them. The man didn't know that the hunched over boy was Al, he only saw a distraught person. The man nodded to the bartender and asked for a whiskey on the rocks. The bartender quirked his eyebrow but said nothing. No one in this little town ever drank liquor so strong unless something really bad happened, like they lost their job or someone died. But as the bartender thought on it, he had never seen this man here before. He definately didn't look like he belonged in this town. The newcomer was wearing a bright red jacket with and alchemic circle on the back of it, his bright blonde hair was in a braid down his back, and at his hip was a shiny new stopwatch with the same alchemic symbol in it.

Ed was sat next to Al, but paid very little attention to him. As soon as he got his drink, he nursed it silently, brooding over something only he could see. Al was still hunched over, crying into his hands, but the wracking sobs had subsided somewhat. The bartender looked at both boys and noticed something neither of them did: they looked to be related, as if they were brothers. But, as the bartender thought, it was none of his business. He moved closer to Al and laid a hand on his shoulders again.

"Hey, you want another drink to calm your nerves?"

Al gradually lifted his head and nodded slowly, quickly growing a monster of a headache from all the crying and the booze. The bartender moved away a little bit to make Al's drink. While the bar grew silent once again, Ed slammed his drink down and cried out "FUCK" really loudly. There were only three other people in the bar besides him: Al, the bartender, and a scraggly old woman hiding in the back shadows with a pack of tarot cards muttering to herself about divine retribution. Al jumped at the outburst, then hunched into himself even more. He didn't recognize the voice of the man sitting next to him at the moment, he was too distraught.

The barkeep came back with Al's drink, then moved to Ed to ask him what was bothering him. Ed replied, "Look, man...my life has been motherfucking hell, so I don't need a duschebag like you asking about my problems. Just leave me the fuck alone!"

Al again raised his head, but this time he turned his head so that he could see the newcomer. His eyes widened in shock and his mouth fell open. He knew this man, and it hurt him to see him here, looking so angry and hurt. Ed turned to yell at the brown haired man next to him, but then realized the man didn't have brown hair at all. His hair was actually blonde, but it was so dirty and stringy that one really couldn't tell unless he knew him. Ed leaned foreward, intending on touching this vision from his past, but Al leaned away. So far, in fact, that he toppled off his stool backwards.

"No. No. No. No. NO! YOU CAN'T BE HERE! NO, I WON'T ALLOW IT! GO AWAY! GO AWAY! NOOOOOOO!" Al started off moaning, and then went to screaming.

The bartender was baffled, but he wanted to help Al in any way he could. So, he turned to Ed and brusquely asked him, or rather told him, to get his sorry ass out of his bar, and that he never wanted to see his face around here again.

Ed was slow to react, but when he did it was to merely get off his stool and move towards the screaming and crying blond boy on the floor. "Alphonse. Alphonse, please don't cry. Do I look that bad to you? Do you not want to see me?"

Al shook his head and cried. "Nii-san...why do you torment me? I know what I did was wrong, but please don't haunt me!"

Ed stopped dead at that. Haunt him? Did Al think he was dead? "Alphonse, why do you think I'm haunting you?"

Al shivered and replied shakily, "Colonel Mustang told me last week that you committed suicide after what I did. I killed you! That is why you're haunting me, Nii-san. I'm bad, so you're haunting me..."

Ed bent over and placed a warm hand on his little brother's shoulder. "Al, I'm right here. See, my hand is warm. I'm not dead, and I'm right here. I'm the one who should be so sorry. You didn't kill me, I'm the one who killed you. You might still be here in the flesh, but I killed YOU. The Al I knew. The Al I loved. I miss you, my little brother. Can you forgive me for running away?"

The bartender looked on baffled, then thought better of it. He moved away, going in to the back of the bar, to the storeroom, to give the brother's some privacy.

Al looked up teary-eyed at his big brother and it broke Ed's heart. Al looked so sad, but there was something else in his eyes. Something akin to hope. Hope that maybe, just maybe, they could be okay. That maybe they could salvage what was left of their lives and mesh them together again to make a bright and happy future.

Ed picked up his little brother from the floor and carried him bridal-style out of the bar and down the street to the hotel he was staying at. People on the street were stairing, but neither brother cared. This new development was so amazing that both thought that if they looked away, their dreams would shatter and they would both be alone again. Life without the other was no life at all. Al looked up onto his big brother's eyes and saw that the love that he used to see was still there. That made him really happy, so he smiled his most radiant smile at the love of his life.

"Al, are you ready to go home? Back to Resembool? Back to Winry? Back to OUR home? I miss you so much, and I want you in my life still. I don't care about what happened in the past, only about now, and our future."

"Oh, Nii-san! I am ready. I don't care about Resembool, or Winry, only about us. I don't care if we go back to our old home, or make a new one, so long as we're together. I love you, Nii-san. I'll always love you. Did you know I made a list?"

"A list?" The boys were in Ed's room at the hotel now, and comfortably settled on the large, queen-sized bed.

Al looked excited now, "Yeah, a list. So that I never make the same mistake again, and so our kids won't either."

Ed raised a blonde eyebrow, "Our kids? And what what that list?"

Al blushed a deep crimson because of his slip about kids, but answered his brother's second question, "I made a list of four steps to take to make sure that I don't screw up again. The first step was to make sure I show you how much I love you, the second to make sure that I see you as both my lover and my brother, the third was to make sure to remind you that blood is thicker than water, and I always have your back, and the fourth is the most important. The fourth step reminds me to never, ever, ever, ever take you for granted an leave you for another man, thinking that I can live without you. I know now that I can't. I don't want to, either."

Ed took his little brother in his arms and gave him the most heartfelt hug he ever gave anyone. "Alphonse, I am so glad I walked into that bar today, because if I didn't, then I wouldn't have ever had you in my life again, and you would still be dead. I love you, and I will always take care of you."

With the last sentence, both boys fell over and cuddled each other into the night to have sweet dreams and awake to their bright and happy future.

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A/N: So, that took waaaaay longer to finish than I thought it would, but that is mostly because of Christmas and all sorts of stuff went wonky. But, it is all done now. In the next week you should see another story from me, but not an Elricest. I am hoping to start Fall Troubles tonight, but it might be a day or so. Thanks to everyone who reads my stories, and I love you all...especially the ones who review. To all of them, 100 e-cookies!  
9:04 PM 12/27/2007


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